Principal
From “Fat Tuesday” to “Farewell to Meat”: Entering Lent with Intention
Last Friday, Fr Geoff Plant presided over Mass for us and talked about Lent. In his homily, he mentioned terms we have all heard but may not have linked to our Lenten observances. Each year, the Church moves through a striking rhythm: parade and ashes, sweetness and silence, colour and dust. The transition from Mardi Gras and Carnival into Lent can feel abrupt, even contradictory. Yet the very names of these celebrations reveal that they are not opposites of Lent, but its threshold.
Mardi Gras is French for “Fat Tuesday.” The term is literal. It names the final day before Ash Wednesday—the last opportunity, historically, to consume rich foods before the Lenten fast began. Meat, butter, eggs, sugar: the ingredients of indulgence were used up in one final feast. The excess was not random; it was calendrical. It assumed restraint was coming.
Similarly, Carnivale (Carnival) likely derives from the Latin carne vale—“farewell to meat”—or carne levare, “to remove meat.” Both etymologies point to abstinence. Carnival, then, is not simply a festival of spectacle and costume. It is a communal goodbye to fleshly abundance before a season of discipline.
Even the social energy of Carnival—the masks, satire, exaggerated costumes, temporary inversion of norms—fits this pattern. It is a ritualised exhale. By amplifying appetite and theatricality, it prepares a community to step into sobriety. The feast is not an escape from Lent; it is its dramatic prelude.
And then comes Lent. The word itself, rooted in an Old English term related to “spring” and the “lengthening” of days, signals growth. This is not a season of negation for its own sake. It is a season of recalibration.
Considering Mardi Gras and Carnival, Lent is not anti-pleasure. It is anti-compulsion.
The feast reveals our loves: food, music, companionship, beauty. The fast asks a harder question: which of these governs us? Where has desire become dependency? Where has abundance dulled gratitude?
“Fat Tuesday” only has meaning because Wednesday will be lean. “Farewell to meat” only resonates if abstinence is real. The movement from beads to ashes, from king cake to quiet prayer, is not contradiction but coherence. Celebration sharpens the contrast; contrast deepens awareness.
The Church’s liturgical wisdom lies in this pattern. We are embodied creatures who delight in the tangible goods of life. But we are also creatures who require limits in order to remain free. Lent does not reject the goodness of the feast; it reorders it.
As we enter this season, the invitation is not grim endurance but intentional practice: to simplify, to examine, to pray, to give. To allow the lengthening light of spring to illuminate what truly sustains us.
The colours fade. The music quiets. Ash marks the brow. And in the space left behind by excess, something steadier can grow—discipline, clarity, and a deeper joy that does not depend on the feast to endure.
Helping Kids to Make and Keep Friends: 10 Proven Strategies That Make Social Success Inevitable
Developing and maintaining friendships is a dynamic process. And that can present headaches for parents/carers.
Most children experience some form of peer rejection throughout childhood.
Most children experience social rejection and recover from it.
They move on and form constructive, worthwhile relationships with like-minded children, but some children benefit from additional support or coaching.
Several studies indicate that children can be coached in friendship skills; a supportive friendship coach can make a significant difference.
The strategies are simple and focus on teaching children a range of friendly behaviours, such as talking with others while playing, showing interest in others, smiling, offering help and encouragement when needed, being willing to share, and learning how to enter a game or social situation.
It is also useful to teach children alternatives to fighting and arguing when disagreements arise within groups.
Here are ten ideas to help you coach your child in the art of making friends:
1. Put friendships on the conversation table
Establish a dialogue with your child about friendships so you can offer support when difficulties arise and provide ideas when needed. Be upfront with your child and discuss the importance of building connections with children both inside and outside school. Talk, don’t lecture.
2. Identify what may be holding a child back
Identify and discuss any behaviour, such as teasing, bullying or self-centredness, that may prevent your child from making friends. Sometimes a child’s remarks can irritate others to the extent that he or she is ostracised. Others struggle sharing information about themselves, which is a no-no in the give-and-take game of friendships. Don’t be squeamish. Be upfront with your child.
If they’re not great sharers, let them know, then set up situations that require them to share.
3. Put your coaching hat on
Teach social skills such as starting a conversation, being a good winner and loser, and holding others' interest during a conversation. Playing games with family members is a great way for kids to pick up many of these skills. Overt teaching - “Next time you want to play a game with……try……” There are many ways to help kids acquire those skills. Including workshopping.
4. Workshop tricky scenarios
The social world for many children is far more challenging than the academic world. Math is a breeze compared to meeting new friends, saying no to peer pressure or letting a friend know that their behaviour is annoying. It helps to workshop different scenarios with kids, providing them with social scripts and alternative behaviours that they can try in sticky situations. Next time they come to you with a problem, try workshopping different solutions with them.
5. Focus on soft power
Some children, usually firstborns, struggle with keeping friends as they often use assertion (and aggression) rather than adaptability when they don’t get their own way. Full-on assertion (”do it my way”) usually meets with rejection at some point. Undoubtedly, soft power wins in the long run in the friendship arena. Kids who can adapt, use humour, have a positive attitude, are helpful, and know how to stand up for themselves when behaviour is unjust or unfair do well with friendships.
6. Teach your child how to read the room
Children who struggle to make friends often charge in too quickly or hover too far away in play or social situations. It helps to teach them to “read the room” in social situations. Encourage them to watch a group for 30 seconds to identify the game being played and the overall “vibe” before making an approach to join in. This gives slow-to-warm-up personality types the chance to feel comfortable (and weigh different social options) in new situations and environments. By coaching them to look for a natural entry point- like offering to retrieve a stray ball- you help them avoid the social friction that comes from awkward interruptions.
7. Leverage the “home ground” advantage
Social anxiety is often lower in a familiar environment. Organise a “micro-playdate” with just one other child at your home, centred around a structured activity like Lego or baking. This controlled setting enables you to use friendship coaching in real time. If a conflict arises over sharing, you can quietly pull your child aside to validate their frustration while helping them navigate the social “repair” needed to keep the play session going.
8. Develop a host mindset in your child
If your child likes to take charge and struggles with sharing, teach them how to be a good host. Start by asking, “What does a good host do?” Make a list of behaviours that make others comfortable at home and in their company. This shifts their focus from their own comfort to others’ comfort, building a foundation of empathy and emotional regulation.
9. Get them out and about
Encourage your child to participate in out-of-school activities or groups that offer opportunities to meet new people outside their school peer groups. Friendships formed through shared interests are often very strong. Birds of a feather flock together, so it’s more likely for children to find soul mates through shared hobbies and activities. Certainly, more likely than sitting at home in their bedroom………
10. Limit solitary activities
Alone time is really important for kids. It gives them the chance to process their day, relax, and feel comfortable in their own skin. However, it’s a balancing act. Too much alone time means your child doesn’t have the opportunity to develop the basic skills they need to navigate the social world. These skills don’t develop in a vacuum. They develop through trial and error (and supportive coaching) in real-life, person-to-person situations. So don’t be afraid to say, “enough alone time.” Invite (or insist) them/they join the social world one interaction at a time.
Finally
Your goal as parents isn’t to collect friends for your children. It’s to help them develop the social “muscles” to connect when they want to, and the self-worth to be comfortable being alone. Helping a child find their tribe is rarely about a single “grand gesture”; it is found in quiet, consistent social interactions in familiar and unfamiliar situations, as well as in supportive friendship coaching.
As you guide them through these challenges, remember that you aren’t just helping them find a friend for today—you are equipping them with the emotional intelligence to lead and connect for a lifetime. Stay patient, keep the dialogue open, and celebrate the small “social wins.” Their confidence will grow, one conversation, one interaction and one friendly gesture at a time.
[Michael Grose, Parenting Toolbox, Feb 24, 2026]
Community News
We welcome Mr Teshan Ravindran and Mr Jack Clark, who joined the College this week as Learning Support Officers in the Diverse Learning Team.
I offer our sincere congratulations to Mrs Adriana Karanfilovski who has advised me this week that she is expecting her second child later on this year. We wish her well for a safe and problem-free pregnancy.
Dr Vittoria Lavorato
Principal
SPC boys can do anything!
**except divide by zero